


how age can change a man

by haipollai



Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Character Study, Feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-22
Updated: 2012-04-22
Packaged: 2017-11-04 03:44:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/389373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/haipollai/pseuds/haipollai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>It's finally an end. He's being given a chance to be more then a monster again. He accepts that it won’t last, once this end of the world thing passes he’ll have to run again but for the moment he’ll let himself believe it’s safe (though he’s done that before and it didn’t ended well so he’ll stay half turned, looking over his shoulder. Just in case).</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	how age can change a man

Bruce is so used to running; he can’t even say how long he’s been at it anymore. He no longer counts time in days and years (it’s from incident to incident now) but he knows it’s been a very long time. So when SHIELD asks him to come in it’s almost a relief. It's finally an end. He's being given a chance to be more then a monster again. He accepts that it won’t last, once this end of the world thing passes he’ll have to run again but for the moment he’ll let himself believe it’s safe (though he’s done that before and it didn’t ended well so he’ll stay half turned, looking over his shoulder. Just in case).

Maybe because he’s so used to running, it takes a few weeks for his mind and body to sync up and realize that he’s still there. Still in New York. A strange life is building up around him, brick by brick. The six of them have moved past the basics and are now picking and prodding at the rougher edges that define each of them. Some more vehemently then others.

Bruce surprises himself by realizing he doesn’t mind. He still doesn’t want to call them a team, or even friends. But they are a something and they might be the first people who really understand what it means to be so out of place. To feel alien when surrounded by people on the streets (at least Steve for sure knows that feeling, Tony has made sure everyone has seen the shaky YouTube videos of the barefoot man sprinting into Times Square courtesy of countless tourists). They have their own monsters, and even if they’re not visible (not everyone gets to be the visible expression of an anger management problem though Tony is damn close to a visible expression of a drinking problem, Bruce can almost see his liver screaming in pain whenever he touches a glass), he’s sharply aware of them in a way he hasn’t been aware of anyone else since Betsy.

It brings its own strange comfort. He doesn’t necessarily trust SHIELD but the five people he now fights beside are different (even the two who are technically SHIELD). Natasha gives him a concerned look after a particularly hard mission and Thor takes to calling him a brother in arms, Steve offers to help him so Bruce Banner can defend himself without the Hulk, Clint shares a calming technique he sometimes uses in the field which Bruce finds himself using sooner rather then later when Tony invites himself into Bruce’s lab to poke at him. Tony invites himself in a lot, but having someone who is not scared by the Hulk is a comfort in its own way.

Bruce tries not to look at it all too closely but he’s a scientist. The more he finds himself looking the more he throws himself into work, whatever SHIELD wants, whatever they let him do. Until one evening he’s being dragged out and finds himself getting shoved onto the couch, very firmly between Tony and Natasha. Tony’s arms are waving wildly as he tries to explain something to Rhodey and Bruce has to duck a stray gesture or five. Clint tells JARVIS to start the movie and Steve orders Tony to shut up (Rhodey punches him in the shoulder to make sure Tony actually listens). Natasha wedges a bowl of popcorn safely between them, shooting him a conspiratorial wink and Bruce finds him in the middle of what could only be described as a family night.

The popcorn is warm and salty and Tony is already pointing out flaws in the movie and Bruce finds himself agreeing and he lets himself get talked into a competition to see who can find the most flaws until Clint throws popcorn at them (even with the only light in the room the constantly shifting glow of the TV he still manages to hit them dead on, Natasha laughs and he throws another at her which she catches neatly in her mouth). They keep on talking because Tony talks and Bruce has become used to having a conversation with him while focused on something else.

He’s still looking over his shoulder all the time, but behind him all he sees are the other five and even with the specter of SHIELD lurking over all of them (he still doesn’t trust shady government agencies, no matter what toys they let him play with), he finds the view over his shoulder is not such a bad sight anymore.

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally a tumblrfic thing to figure out writing Bruce and decided I liked it enough so it's been touched up some and ta da.  
> Title from Hello Hello by SR-71.


End file.
